hello.

Art at kitsche, music at untidytowns, everything else here.

Here's a bit about myself: I'm Cindy. I'm a 20 year old in the throes of New York college life, which is always keeping me busy. I love Harry Potter, Miyazaki films, food, museums, pretty song lyrics, fashion, journals/notebooks/sketchbooks, making lists, drawing, my camera, and aesthetically pleasing things. I like making lists and filling up the pages in my passport. I'm an Aquarius, Dragon, Otter, Type 4, and INFP. I tend to post entries with photos of occurrences in my life, trains of thought, and the occasional piece of art. My journal entries are public, so feel free to add and read to your liking -- no need to ask!

Okay, your turn. Leave me your name, add me, introduce yourself, tell me about how awesome you are, et cetera et cetera! ♥ ♥

• Would anybody be interested in a Harry Potter Marauder-era writing community? There'd be some roleplay and writing prompts/exercises, and there's no forced posting requirement! I'm looking for a few people to take on some Marauder-era characters. Let me know if you're interested! It's going to be a really casual, small writing group that's totally canon-compliant (James/Lily, Frank/Alice, etc). I'd love to invite you!

• I'm going to Boston for Thanksgiving weekend. And I recently booked my tickets for Christmas -- I'm super excited! It'll be so nice to hightail it out of here, especially since I have 3 exams lined up for December 22nd, my last day of class. 3 exams followed up by 17 hours of flying and a 12 hour time difference? Oy.

• Please link me to your wishlists and card posts! I'm trying to keep tabs on all of that, so if you've got a post or a wishlistr or something of the sort, link that shizzzz!

• My last.fm is erring on the side of repetitive. :( Recommend me some music? My earbuds (and I!) will be eternally grateful!

egypt and turkey: day ix



( +2 )

So here's what spring 2010 will look like academically, more or less.

M/W
9:10am - 10:25am: Simulation
11:00am - 12:15pm: East Asian Civilization: China
1:10pm - 2:15pm: Law and Economics*
4:10pm - 6:00pm: Seminar in Human Factors Design

T/R
9:10am - 10:25am: Production Planning
2:15pm - 6:00pm: Advanced Computer Modeling

* = The seniors got precedence for the 45 spots, but I'm going to see if I can weasel my way in. Out of all the econ electives they offered this semester, it's the one that's Really Freaking Relevant to my major. And the one that I'd actually want to take on a voluntary basis. Oy. Fingers crossed!

Anyway, academic self-assessment time. For the past 2-3 weeks, I was down in the dregs of midterms with harsh bell curves and never-ending problem sets. I just finished my last midterm for the semester, and now my brain feels like a fried egg, sunny side up.

The bright side is that I have a couple plans for this weekend, next weekend, and winter break. This semester has been absolutely dull. I haven't had an actual weekend in the city since September? I feel like I've been missing out.

-----

Alright, alright. Second-to-last photo spam from Egypt/Turkey -- cross my heart! After this, all of my photos will be posted in a more er, timely manner. Timely as in not three months behind. Real time, what is that!

egypt and turkey: day viii

( Turkish viagra, Turkish delight, and one Hagia Sophia )

If you haven't already, fill this poll out! Oh, and if you have holiday wishlists/card posts or a subtle gifting hint to drop, hit me up.

egypt and turkey: day vii


ZOMG PYRAMID!!!!JK!@#J!@!!!



(Back in early August, I went on a 9/10-day trip through Egypt and Turkey. Just like London and the road trip, I'll be posting photos divided by day. Photos from the trip will be updated at my Flickr as well!)

(8/14): Woke up. Packed my bags. Visited some pyramid. Saw a sphinx. Flew to Istanbul. The end.*

* = Er, right. That was the Sparknotes version. Or the Cindy-is-sleep-deprived-that-she-can't-be-arsed-to-write-something-more-substantial version. Anyway. I did wake up and pack my bags for the flight later that night. And then I went to Giza, with the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx, which speak for themselves. Ah, the pinnacle of manmade architecture! The pyramids themselves are unbelievably imposing, but the history increases their presence tenfold.

That afternoon, I flew from Cairo to Istanbul and arrived in the late afternoon. After checking in the hotel, I took a walk around the city and bought lots of figs and Turkish delight for my omnomming. I then reached shoreside just in time to catch the sunset. I loved Istanbul -- the weather was so lovely and breezy and it was nice just strolling around as opposed to rushing from point A to point B.

And then I went back to the hotel. I went to the bathroom to pee, but er, I couldn't find the flusher. I spent a good five minutes trying to find anything with a remote semblance to a lever, and found a small lever near the pipe. A-ha! I tugged the lever backwards. No luck. Tugged it to the right. Nope. The left. Natch. I pulled the lever towards me, and I was promptly sprayed full-on-the-face by a jet stream of water from the toilet bowl. Turns out it was the bidet.¹ The bathroom floor and door -- and I -- were completely soaked with bidet water. And that, ladies and gents, was my introduction to Turkish toilets. Cheers.²

-----------
footnotes:
¹: A bidet is colloquially known as the "vag/butt-crack cleaner." Make of that what you will.
²: That night, I also managed to unhinge the shower door because I pushed it the wrong way. I'm an engineer, and I managed to destruct an entire bathroom in one night. For shame.


( sup figgy (literally) )

Alright, an impending Accounting and Finance midterm is calling my name. More (real-time) updates when I'm less frazzled.

a couple updates:
✦ If you're a Harry Potter fan and/or if you need a few seconds to kill, you should totally fill out my Harry Potter poll!

✦ I've probably babbled on 4859 times about how kitsche was published in the LiveJournal Anniversary Anthology, but I received the copy of the book not too long ago. Whoo! Anyway, I scanned the pages -- check it out!


(click to zoom in)

✦ Speaking of kitsche, I updated it for the first time in nearly 2 years. Begone, proverbial dust -- it's back! I'll be posting more entries later this week, so stay tuned.

✦ Do you guys have a NaNoWriMo account? You should add me -- I'm piratecookie!

✦ I'm seeing Hamlet featuring Jude Law tomorrow. GLEE!

✦ I'm going to Boston for Thanksgiving weekend, thus breaking the chain of spending my past two Thanksgivings in Jersey and the preceding ones in Indianapolis. I miss having a break. Anyway, buying my bus tickets now!

... and WITHOUT FURTHER ADO.

egypt and turkey: day v-vi





(Back in early August, I went on a 9/10-day trip through Egypt and Turkey. Just like London and the road trip, I'll be posting photos divided by day. Photos from the trip will be updated at my Flickr as well!)

(8/12-3): Took the bus to Hurghada, a city along the Red Sea coast. Basically, Hurghada's got loads of seaside resorts and beaches, but getting there was a nightmare.

We got lost in the desert.

Yeah. It's one of those worst-case scenarios where you think, "Hey you know what would suck? Being lost in the desert, that's what!" The bus was going in circles and we were passing by the same billboards once, twice, at least ten times. Hot August weather + a bus going nowhere + hours of driving through sand, sand, and more sand + impatient passengers =/= fun times, kids. We made it to the resort pretty late (around 9PM?), and I proceeded to gorge myself at the buffet.

I woke up the next morning at 4AM. (Funny, that's when I go to sleep in NY, ha!) You're probably wondering, "Why on earth did you voluntarily woke up at 4AM?!" Well, I went on an early-morning safari in the Eastern Desert to check out the sunrise at said desert, among other things.

Guys, if there's ever an occasion to wake up at 4AM, it better be at a desert, because:
a.) the COLORS. Absolutely sublime stuff. It's the prettiest I've ever seen a sky look, and this is coming from somebody who has seen MANY sunrises.*
b.) the slight morning breeze is perf.
c.) the sand-between-your-toes feeling? Yeah, it's like the beach except your feet aren't wet so you don't get the sand clinging past your filmy ankles.
d.) running down the hills of sand with reckless abandon? Enough said.

*= Er, most of those sunrises are compliments of my many all-nighters pulled at college. BUT STILL.

Anyway. A few hours were spent at the Eastern desert, and then we visited a Bedouin village, where we had breakfast (Bedouin barbecue!). A camel ride ensued! And tons of pictures. We got back to the resort around 11am, which is normally when I would wake up on a normal day in New York. We chilled out at the beach for the afternoon, and then it was on the bus back to Cairo.

.... and this time, we didn't get lost! Yay!

Instead, we ran out of gas. In the middle of the desert. Worst Case Scenario #2, check. We had planned to go on a late afternoon cruise back in Cairo, but that was pretty much shot to hell. We switched drivers thrice, stopped roadside many more times, and finally set up camp at a remote gas station before the bus was up and running again.

Four hours past our expected time of arrival, we got to Cairo and luckily, we got put on an evening cruise, honestly was a pretty nice way to spend the last night in Egypt, since there were all those city lights and the night sky.

( sunrise, sunrise, camels, and a cuppa tea )